Michael Who??For the purposes of this website, I'm a guy who enjoys messing around with wood.
I did a pretty basic 'professional' training course in carpentry and joinery back in the 1960s but soon sought other ways of earning a living. By this time, people who could construct windows and doors from scratch with hand tools were not what the industry needed. I was really a frustrated cabinetmaker but they hadn't taught me that skillset - so I fell between two stools. So I moved on to do other, completely unrelated things and came back to this many years later when I had the time and resources to do what I really love to do with wood. |
Somewhere around 2004 I stumbled into writing a regular column for a woodworking journal and now write occasional articles for The Woodworker whenever I happen to be up to something of interest in my workshops.
Following retirement, I was fortunate enough to move to a house with a workshop in the garden, and a garage where I could accommodate some machinery, and for a few years I accepted commissions for bespoke boxes, some of which are shown on this site. However, I found that this was spoiling my enjoyment of woodwork and hence my retirement: I tended to play safe, sticking to known, tried and tested ideas, rather than experiment and develop new skills. This, combined with a period of poor health led to my deciding not to accept further commissions, and the only professional aspect of my woodworking now is the writing - which I enjoy, can do at my own pace in my home, and which actually encourages experimentation rather than deters it.
Following retirement, I was fortunate enough to move to a house with a workshop in the garden, and a garage where I could accommodate some machinery, and for a few years I accepted commissions for bespoke boxes, some of which are shown on this site. However, I found that this was spoiling my enjoyment of woodwork and hence my retirement: I tended to play safe, sticking to known, tried and tested ideas, rather than experiment and develop new skills. This, combined with a period of poor health led to my deciding not to accept further commissions, and the only professional aspect of my woodworking now is the writing - which I enjoy, can do at my own pace in my home, and which actually encourages experimentation rather than deters it.